Cliff Osmond Unedited

Thursday, July 12, 2012

As the future diminishes, the past looms larger.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

The End of Silence

I wrote about silence in my last blog (almost a month and a half ago) and it left me mute. I have not written since then. I hope I have found my voice again.

Perhaps it was/is political silly season that had silenced me. So many lies, obfuscations, half-truths and self-serving self-righteousness that I have not wanted to analyse or respond.

Maybe it was international issues: many years ago--this is before 9/11--I warned all my Eurocentric and Amerocentric friends that the 21st Century would be the century of Islamic challenge to capitalism (American and European), similar to the 19th century Christianity's challenge of putting a human face on capitalism, and the 20th century free enterprise challenge by Communism's. No one wanted to listen to me because of the irrational fear and inherent arrogance of the west towards the inevitable resurgence (oil + money + an attractive community value system) of one of the great civilizations of the last 1300 years. Remember, those of us in the West who wish to criticize Islamic revolutionary jihad, America started with revolution and Civil War, as did most of the countries of Europe. Why shouldn't the Middle East follow the common change-dictates of human nature and history? Dictators are overthrown, followed by revolution and civil war. All men are created equal, right, in violence as well as it human rights?

Finally, I simply found my voice again because I just completed a visit with my eight year old granddaughter Sofia.

While visiting one evening at our home in California, her mother, my superb daughter Mishi, asked Sofia what she liked best about coming to Southern California, to visit Grandma and Grandpa: was it the weather, the beach, the merry-go-round, the swimming, the innumerable parks and playgrounds she demands to visit on every trip?

Without hesitation, she said: "Hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa." I swear that's she said; without prompting, pre-meditation or preparation: "Hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa."